May 11, 2012

Records were matched, records were broken and both Warren's boys and girls track teams retained their crowns as kings and queens of the county.

Along the way, the Warren boys managed to add a region championship for good measure.

Article Photos

Times Observer photo by Allen SeybertUp and overWarren’s Lindsay Onuffer clears the first hurdle during the girls 300 hurdles event at Thursday’s Warren County Track Meet at War Memorial Field.

Times Observer photo by Allen SeybertWhat goes up...Youngsville’s Mike Hamrick completes his turn in the boys long jump during Thursday’s Warren County Track Meet at War Memorial Field.

Times Observer photo by Allen SeybertStretch runEisenhower’s Taylor Talasky runs the final stretch of the girls 100-meter dash during Thursday’s Warren County Track Meet at War Memorial Field.

Times Observer photo by Allen SeybertHang timeSheffield’s Ashley Davidson completes her turn in the girls long jump during Thursday’s Warren County Track Meet at War Memorial Field.

Times Observer photo by Allen SeybertFront runnersWarren’s Luke Wortman runs just in front of teammate Nathan Zigler while competing in the boys 300-meter hurdles at Thursday’s Warren County Track Meet at War Memorial Field. Warren made up its region contest with Eisenhower during the meet and captured the Region 3 championship with its 110-31 victory.

Times Observer photo by Allen SeybertGive it a shotYoungsville’s Arielle Clark completes her turn in the girls shot put during Thursday’s Warren County Track Meet at War Memorial Field.

Times Observer photo by Allen SeybertAll out effortYoungsville’s Abbie Swartzbaugh clears the bar during her attempt in the girls high jump at Thursday’s Warren County Track Meet at War Memorial Field.

Times Observer photo by Allen SeybertNailbiterEisenhower’s Ben Perkins and Sheffield’s Keon VonHendricks compete stride for stride in the boys 400-meter run during Thursday’s Warren County Track Meet at War Memorial Field.

Warren and Eisenhower made up a dual meet postponed earlier this week during the event and the 110-31 victory by the Dragon boys secured the Region 3 championship. The Warren girls were a 129-12 winner.

For Warren and veteran boys track coach Steve Norris, the win in the county meet was great, but the Region 3 title is what his squad will remember.

"These kids have just stepped up in even more ways than I could've imagined," said Norris. "When I look at the job our kids have done this year I'm blown away. We've improved in almost every area and that's a testament to the kids and their work ethic and the help I have on my staff. It's been an easy year for me to be a head coach. I work with some special kids and have some special assistants helping me out."

The Dragons' region winning effort was certainly one of the highlights of the day - but not the only one. Sheffield's Kalil Slaughter, Youngsville's Cassi Swartzbaugh and Warren's Sabrina Anderson all turned in record-setting individual performances.

Swartzbaugh, the meet's girls track MVP, blew away the field in the 300 hurdles, finishing in a blazing speed of 45.64 seconds. Not only did Swartzbaugh break her own meet record in the event, but she also broke the all-time county mark.

Slaughter's record setting run came in the 200 where the Sheffield senior sprinter dashed to the finish line in 21.48 seconds. Like Swartzbaugh, Slaughter broke his own record in the event and was named the track MVP for his gender.

The third and final record setting effort of the day was turned in by Warren's Anderson. In winning the girls high jump event, Anderson cleared five feet, two inches, matching the jump performed by Sheffield's Leah Showers in 2004.

As far as the team standings went, the 2012 version of the county meet looked a lot like the others in recent memory - with a lot of blue and white at the front of the field.

In the boys competition, Warren led the way with 120 points followed by Sheffield in second with 58 points, Eisenhower in third with 48 points and Youngsville in fourth with 34 points.

Tanner Rosenberg was a four-time winner for Warren, helping the Dragons to another county championship. Individually, Rosenberg won the 400 in 51.33 and the 800 in 2:06.44. He teamed with Caleb Hultman, Luke Wortman and Jordan Willetts to win the 4X400 relay and with Hultman, Brad Simmons and Christian Harrington to win the 4X800 relay.

Other wins on the track for Warren came from Nathan Zigler who won the 110 hurdles in 15.98, Wortman who won the 300 hurdles in 41.14 and Simmons who won both the 1600 (4:47.04) and 3200 (10:33.35).

On his way to earning field MVP honors, Zigler added a victory in the high jump by clearing six feet.

Rounding out the Dragons' winners on Thursday were Austin Jerman who claimed the javelin win with a throw of 160 feet, 11 inches and Chris McNeal who won the shot put with a throw of 44 feet and one inch.

For the Sheffield boys, Slaughter led the way with three total victories. In addition to his record setting win in the 200, Slaughter won the 100-meter dash in 11.13 seconds and was a member of the winning 4X100 relay team with Deonte Clay, Kwante Johnson and Dylan Reynolds. Reynolds also added an individual victory by winning the long jump after a leap of 20 feet and one-half inch.

The Youngsville boys track team managed to earn two first-place finishes in the field. Austin Mechling edged out Sheffield's George Fitch to win the discus with a throw of 122 feet, two and one-half inches and Mike Hamrick was the winner in the triple jump, clearing 40 feet and three inches.

While the Eisenhower boys team failed to field a first-place finisher in an event, the team did have several runner-up finishes. Kollin King was second in the javelin as was Ben Perkins in the triple jump. The 4X400 team of Matt Jewell, Greg Mizak, Devin VanGuilder and Anthony Amroski and the 4X800 team of Nathan O'Brien, Matt Eernisse, Jake VanHouten and Perkins were also second.

As dominant as the Warren boys were, the Lady Dragons managed to go one step further, winning by over 80 points. The Dragons' 145-point total was followed by second-place Youngsville with 62.5, third-place Sheffield with 31 and fourth-place Eisenhower with 21.5.

Ellis Beardsley was outstanding for the Dragons, winning in all four of the events in which she participated. Individually, Beardsley won the 800 (2:28.41) and 1600 (5:40.95), but she didn't stop there. The junior then teamed with Anna Falvo, Megan Smoulder and Paige Rimer to win the 3200 relay and with Falvo, Casey Kulka and Rimer to win the 1600 relay.

Other three-time winners for Warren included Sabrina Anderson and field MVP Brooke Armanini. Armanini's field victories came in the long jump and triple jump. She cleared 15 feet and eight and one-half inches to win the long jump and 31 feet, nine inches to claim the triple jump. Armanini also teamed with Anderson, Kaitlyn Levesque and Kulka to win the 4X100 relay.

Anderson followed up her record-tying leap in the long jump with a victory in the 400 (1:02.45).

Other winners for the Lady Dragons included Levesque in the 100 (13.97), Amanda Castagnino in the 3200 (13:18.31), Nikki Atkins in the shot put (31'2 1/2) and Amanda Pinkerton in the discus (82'0).

"I was very happy with our showing today," said Warren girls coach Mark Sweet. "The kids are really peaking at the right time. It's been a wonderful season and I couldn't be happier with what we've been able to do.

"We also were able to get some new district qualifiers in our last regular season chances. Teah Bines qualified in the javelin and Kaitlyn Levesque qualified in the 200. We also got a personal best from Casey Kulka in the 200."

For the Youngsville girls, it was again Swartzbaugh that stole the show. In the second track event of the meet, Swartzbaugh ran to victory in just 16.71 seconds. As it turned out, she was just getting warmed up as the Eagles star breezed to the win in the 300 hurdles, breaking a county-wide record with a run of 45.64 seconds.

Teammate Abbey McLaughlin was Youngsville's other individual winner, claiming the 200 by narrowly edging out Warren's Kulka at the line. McLaughlin's winning time was 27.79 seconds.

The undersized Sheffield girls team showed a lot of heart and top-seeded javelin star Jen Isenberg gave the team an overall victory in the event. Isenberg's throw of 104 feet, nine inches was the best of any county female athlete on the day.

Like the Eisenhower boys, the Lady Knights were also unable to field an individual or relay team winner. Still, the Knights got a strong second from Julia Bauer in the 1600 and a runner-up finish from the 3200 relay team of Lacey Stanko, Erica Littlefield, Mollie Marsh and Courtney Jewell.

"I thought Taylor Talasky ran well in the 100 and 200," said Ike coach Mike Logue. "She's been getting better every meet and has been getting a great start out of the blocks. Bizz Baran looked strong in the long jump and Julia Bauer was a strong second in the mile."

Sheffield returns to action Saturday at the Northern Tier League Meet while the Dragons participate in the District 10 Class AAA Championships Wednesday at Harbor Creek High School. Youngsville and Eisenhower are off until Saturday, May 19, when they compete at the District 10 Class AA Championships at Hickory High School.